Leaseholders - Victory Housing

Leaseholder and Shared Owners
As a Victory Housing Trust leaseholder you belong to a small yet important group. The lease of your flat sets out rights and responsibilities we both have as landlord and leaseholders. The lease is the formal contract between you and Victory Housing Trust, setting out the rights and obligations of both parties.

Length of Lease
If you are the first person to buy the property, the lease will be granted for a period of up-to 125 years. Subsequent owners take over the number of years remaining on the lease at the time of purchase.

Main terms of the lease
The main sections of your lease give you details on the following:

A description of the property, defining the boundaries and areas you are responsible for and those we are responsible for
Rent and/or service charges you must pay when the lease starts
How and when the rent and service charges are reviewed
The items that may be included within your service charges
An explanation of the legal responsibilities for you and Victory Housing Trust.

Your rights under the lease
Your main rights are:

To live in your home for the length of the lease
The quiet enjoyment of your home
For flat owners, the repair of the structure and communal areas by Victory Housing Trust.

If you are a shared owner, you have additional rights to

Purchase further additional shares of the equity by staircasing (some rural schemes cannot purchase 100%)
Obtain the freehold if you have acquired 100% of the equity of a house.

Your responsibilities under the lease
Your main responsibilities are:

To pay your rent and service charges on time
To pay your insurance on time
To maintain and repair the internal parts of your home
To allow us or our contractors access to carry out necessary work to your home, and gas and electric safety checks
Not to alter the exterior or interior of your home without our permission
Not to use your home as anything other than a private residence
Not to cause a nuisance or harass other people
For flat owners, not to keep a pet without our written permission
To send us legal notice of any change in ownership and a registration fee
To inform us in writing of any correspondence address.

Shared owners have additional responsibilities

To inform us if you wish to sell your home and obtain our consent. This will not be unreasonably withheld.
For houses: to repair all parts.

Victory Housing Trust’s responsibilities under the lease
Our main responsibilities are:

To carry out certain repairing obligations
To keep your home insured against loss or fire.

If you live in a flat:

To maintain the structure and exterior of the building
To maintain the communal areas and keep them clean and well lit.

For Further information, please get in touch with a member of our Customer Services Team on 0845 300 6648 or email info@victoryhousing.co.uk